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1 | AN ACT concerning State government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | by changing Section 17 as follows:
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6 | (20 ILCS 505/17) (from Ch. 23, par. 5017)
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7 | Sec. 17. Youth and Community Services Program. The The | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | Department of Human
Services shall
develop a State program for | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | youth and community services which will
assure that youth who | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | come into contact or may come into contact with the child
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11 | welfare and the juvenile justice systems will have access to | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | needed community,
prevention, diversion, emergency and | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | independent living services. The term
"youth" means a person | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | under the age of 19 years. The term "homeless youth"
means a | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | youth who cannot be reunited with his or her family and is not | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | in a
safe and stable living situation. This Section shall not | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | be construed to
require the Department of Human Services to | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | provide services under this
Section to any homeless youth who | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | is at least 18 years of age but is younger
than 19 years of age; | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | however, the Department may, in its discretion, provide
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21 | services under this Section to any such homeless youth.
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22 | (a) The goals of the program shall be to:
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23 | (1) maintain children and youths in their own |
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1 | community;
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2 | (2) eliminate unnecessary categorical funding of | ||||||
3 | programs by funding more
comprehensive and integrated | ||||||
4 | programs;
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5 | (3) encourage local volunteers and voluntary | ||||||
6 | associations in developing
programs aimed at preventing | ||||||
7 | and controlling juvenile delinquency;
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8 | (4) address voids in services and close service gaps;
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9 | (5) develop program models aimed at strengthening the | ||||||
10 | relationships
between youth and their families and aimed at | ||||||
11 | developing healthy,
independent lives for homeless youth;
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12 | (6) contain costs by redirecting funding to more | ||||||
13 | comprehensive and
integrated community-based services; and
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14 | (7) coordinate education, employment, training and | ||||||
15 | other programs for
youths with other State agencies.
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16 | (b) The duties of the Department under the program shall be
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17 | to:
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18 | (1) design models for service delivery by local | ||||||
19 | communities;
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20 | (2) test alternative systems for delivering youth | ||||||
21 | services;
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22 | (3) develop standards necessary to achieve and | ||||||
23 | maintain, on a statewide
basis, more comprehensive and | ||||||
24 | integrated community-based youth services;
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25 | (4) monitor and provide technical assistance to local | ||||||
26 | boards and local
service systems;
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1 | (5) assist local organizations in developing programs | ||||||
2 | which address the
problems of youths and their families | ||||||
3 | through direct services, advocacy
with institutions, and | ||||||
4 | improvement of local conditions; and
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5 | (6) develop a statewide adoption awareness campaign | ||||||
6 | aimed at pregnant
teenagers.
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7 | (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97.)
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